The meetup dates were always the most irritating for Salem to attend. Every year, pairings from all over would gather around and interact with one another. The popular ships were always surrounded by adoring fans asking for confirmation of their favorite ship. Most pairings ignored these questions because they understood that fans would find some way to confirm their favorite ships, even if all the signs pointed against it.
There was one major reason that Salem detested going to these things and it wasn't for the reasons that one would think. It wasn't because of the loud festivities, crammed rooms, obnoxious fans, frivolous discussions, or even the sickenly cheery atmosphere. No. What Salem hated most were the team RWBY pairings. Their presence alone was enough to make everyone else silent. Behind them would be a battalion of fans armed with demands and blogs. It was absolute madness. Salem hated to see these four girls command the level of respect she sought after. Regardless, she'd probably go and sulk in the corner like she always did.
"Are we there yet?" asked August Rose. He looked exactly like Summer without breasts and a lot more body hair.
"No!" Salem snapped. "And I wish that you not repeat that question again. This must be the seventeenth time that you've asked this."
"You counted?"
"YES!" The red in Salem's eyes shot bright red as she said this, causing August to step back a bit.
"Uhhh...sorry," said August bashfully.
"Keep talking and you really will be."
Back at Salem's castle, Jaune rushed to put his clothes on. He still had his suit from volume two and figured it would be good enough.
"You look like an extra in a Korean boy band," said watts as he watched Jaune get dressed.
"Just shut up," said Jaune. "I don't see you going with a pairing!"
"That's because my only real options are frozen and taken." He almost sounded proud when he said that.
"Excuses," Jaune muttered.
"How do you even plan to reach your destination on time? It's far from here and the only methods of transportation have been taken."
"That's easy," said Jaune. "I'll do what we do in the main series: Disappear for a while and then appear conveniently without explanation."
"That's quite a pointed explanation."
"Eh. I guess."
Back at the event, Salem was sitting in her corner as usual. With her were Adam and Illia, along with Emerald and Mercury. None of them looked too happy to be there with the exception of Illia, who seemed far more interested in Adam than he was in her.
"This place blows," said Mercury with his head rolled back. "Do we really have to stay here until it ends?"
"Unfortunately so," said Salem. "I would have the entire place gassed if it were up to me."
"All humans deserve to be gassed," said Adam.
"You're so cute when you talk like that!" Illia giggled.
The rest of the participants at the party were in the center of the grand room talking with each other. Coco and Velvet were talking with some friends, Nora and Ren were cracking jokes, Sun and Neptune were talking to an OC, and surrounding them were hundreds of fans. They all made the same demands with their favorite ships, hoping that one of them would indirectly confirm something.
Salem's table only had a few and she would quickly scare them off with one look.
"Can I go talk to everybody?" asked August Rose.
"No," said Salem. "You're to sit here until we leave."
"B-But that's-"
"Silence!"
Salem could feel her already corpse-like body growing frailer by the minute. As much as she hated to admit it, Jaune was somewhat more charming than the obnoxious August.
"AND NOW INTRODUCING THE MOMENT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!" Said Professor Port, an official announcer for the even. "TEEEEEEEEEEEAM RWBY!"
The cheers became so loud that the water on Salem's table shook. Team RWBY all walked out with their respective ships: White Rose and Bumblebee seemed to be this years picks. Last year it was Ladybug and Freezer Burn. The fans clambered towards them, screaming like banshees every time a single sound escaped their mouths.
"Looks like the jailbait quartet has finally arrived," said Mercury. "Want me to stomp them to death?"
"I'd much rather slowly drain Blake of her bodily fluids and store what's left in a vial for me to keep," said Adam.
"Whatever you say, Vergil Lector."
Salem eyed Ruby as she walked in with Weiss Schnee. It made her blood boil to see the cause of all her failures right in front of her. They had to be eliminated. They needed to be eliminated. They were going to be-
"SALEM!" A voice roared. Everybody looked behind team RWBY to see Jaune running right through the crowd to find Salem.
"I'm back!" he continued, "and I'm really sorry about sniffing the dust and everything. Hazel told me that it'd help me and I believed him because I'm an idiot, but then it got me all weird and….uh….I'm really sorry!"
Jaune only then realized that people were watching him and quickly shut up.
Salem watched all of this with raised eyebrows. Jaune had managed to take away all the attention team RWBY had attracted, albeit by acting like an idiot. Still, she couldn't help but feel just a little impressed by his feat.
"Excuse me," Salem interrupted. "I believe this is my partner."
"What about me?" asked August.
"You can go die for all I care," said Salem flippantly. "Come with me, Jaune. We have much to discuss."
"W-What?" asked Jaune. He was honestly expecting her to give him a lot more grief.
"You've proven yourself today," said Salem. "Perhaps you aren't the bumbling idiot I thought you were."
"Uhhh….thanks."
The day had ended with some level of success. Jaune hoped Salem wouldn't try to drag him into something weird.